Digital goods or electronic goods or digital products are anything you can sell that is in a digital format. The types of products include ebooks, software, website templates, music, videos, licence codes, ringtones, apps are just a few. The upfront costs of creating digital goods is tiny so it can be a great way for an entrepreneur or small business to add a side stream income. Here are just a few of the perks to selling digital downloads:
• No inventory – you have no stock levels to maintain so you have a smaller initial outlay.
• Costs the same to sell one or thousands
• No shipping
• Little to no startup cost
• Consumers instantly receive the product
• Transaction is quickly completed so you have the money in your account straight away
Some online services specialize in selling digital goods, including invoicing, payment, and delivering the digital copy.
Picking a service can be challenging, here’s some guidelines to help you get started:
1) Fees
Transaction and hosting fees will vary, some require a monthly subscription and others, just a percentage or both. Just know which ones they require and what you can afford. Selling through PayPal is often a convenient way and they have a transaction fee.
2) Integration with your website
Make sure the service can integrate with your blog or website, it’s best to use a service that has a cart that can blend in with your website. Sometimes a provider that has code you can cut and paste code into your web page!
3) Features
Here’s a few of the features that might be helpful:
Automatic product download
Have the option of no shipping
The ability to simultaneous sell tangible goods and e-goods
4) Security
It’s critical that the purchase made by the client is secure. You should expect your customer, after purchasing your product, to receive a secure link to immediately download the purchased item. The link should expire within a certain amount of time. Some systems offer “digital stamping” with a unique ID so you can track who is sharing your digital download. Some services offer rules that allow you to choose # of clicks or # of days the link is valid.
5) Easy to Use
Make sure the transaction is smooth and easy for your customer, you don’t want them to jump through a bunch of hoops and make it easy to keep coming back and making purchases.
Here’s a great ecommerce guide from my site at http://withinweb.com/global/hints_tips_and_tricks/digital_files.pdf on further concepts for digital downloads.